The Railroad That Burned the Forest—and Paid the Bill
In 1908, locomotives and clearing crews set eleven fires in the Wenatchee National Forest. The Great Northern Railway’s $2,312.62 payment was an early reckoning for industrial damage to public land.
Portland, Or., May 25.—The Great Northern Railway Company has paid the government $2,312.62 for damages caused on the Wenatchee National Forest by fires started from locomotives and clearing crews during the summer of 1908. Merchantable timber to the amount of about half a million feet and 7,800 cords of wood were destroyed or damaged. In addition, much young growth was destroyed. The company had a large force of men at work clearing for its new electric transmission line, by means of which it is to operate its trains through the Cascade tunnel. The railroad crosses the forest from Leavenworth to the tunnel, a distance of about 50 miles. Eleven fires started during the season and burned over a total of 314 acres, the area of the different fires varying from one-half to 150 acres.
“The Great Northern Railway Company has paid the government $2,312.62 for damages caused on the Wenatchee National Forest by fires started from locomotives and clearing crews.”
Railroad-caused wildfires remain a major issue in the West, and the question of who pays for damage to public lands is still contested. This small settlement shows an early attempt to make industry accountable for the forests it used.
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